Etiquette: A Formal Education

Dress changes the manners.

Voltaire

Prior to World War II, the
average man took his fashion cues from an upper class that
considered proper appearance to be a very serious matter and could
afford the services of highly experienced tailors to suit their
standards. All that changed following the war as the expansion
of the middle class, youth culture, popular media and relaxed social
standards gradually led to a fashion free-for-all. Society’s
previous emphasis on appearing mature and sophisticated gave way to
a preference for youthfulness and sex appeal. This shift in focus has
been significantly detrimental to classic formal wear which is not
simply about what’s currently popular but what’s traditionally
acceptable; after all, the very definition of formal is the
preserving of a “form” or tradition.

Not surprisingly, many young
men today crave something more substantial than the fast food,
casual clothes and lax manners fostered by the counterculture
revolution. Most of them have enough awareness of formal
tradition to realize that the few formal rituals they encounter –
namely graduations, weddings and funerals – require them to dress in
a special way.But for
the specific details of such attire they are dependent on the advice
of perceived experts.In
today’s world that often means tuxedo rental companies, fashion
magazines and red carpet celebrities and therein lies the rub: the
clothes being hyped by these sources are primarily designed to feed
America’s obsession with the next fleeting fad.The trendy variations offered each season by upscale

designers and mainstream manufacturers may be fine for teenage proms
and youthful nuptials but they certainly won't hold water at proper
black-tie events where guests are expected to be adult enough to
know better.

A mature understanding of
black tie must come instead from an appreciation of the rich
tapestry of tradition that lies hidden beneath its visible
components.Consequently
this section of the Guide not only lists the garments which
correctly comply with the dress code – the “what” of black tie – but
also looks at the code’s etiquette and context – the “who”, “when”,
“where” and “why”.

Thanks to modern society's
ignorance of traditional etiquette, the amount of detail contained
in the precise definition of black tie can seem a little
overwhelming at first. It may also appear somewhat arbitrary to
people born after 1980 who are used to
casual eateries and casual workplaces which lack any semblance of a
formal dress code. However, once a man begins to understand
the premise of an outfit being correct rather than just passable,
he realizes the significant benefits of a dress code. Acing
the black-tie test has nothing to do with skill or experience; it is
simply a matter of following the rules.